True to form, I get the boat home and they start with the overtime again. Double shifts the last two days and that kind of stuff. It's a good thing they pay me, or I wouldn't even bother going in.
Anyhow, I haven't had a chance to do any tinkering on the TyBoo25 yet, but I did look it over and come up with a couple of things to try. The first step will be to rewire the cabin and accessories. There are inline fuses all over the place, and wires going every which way, so I am going to put a distribution center behind the helm bulkhead, with every circuit fused and originating from a common bus. I also have a windlass to install after I unwrap it Christmas morning (thanks again, dad).
One of the grand schemes I dreamed up has to do with the Wallas. When we were on the water at Cornet Bay, and the heater had been on with the blower lid closed for quite a while, Kay all of a sudden announced that something was burning. The wood panel (newer Wallas 125’s have metal) on the top of the blower lid was getting real hot and starting to char just a bit. The next time I started the stove, I noticed the blower fan that comes on when the lid is closed was laboring a little when running. The blower element was stiff to turn in its bushings, and would stop immediately without coasting when the lid was lifted. I took the stove out and the blower assembly apart last weekend. When I put it all back together, the fan turned freely, but now it is a little noisier than it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah - enough of that.
One option is to send it up to Scan Marine for a tune-up and repair (I don't do intricate stuff real well). Another option is to disconnect the built in blower and replace it with a remotely located blower unit ducted to the original intake. I read somewhere (on C-Dogs, I think) someone warning that if the fan draws too much current, it can fry the circuit board. I figure I can snip the wires to the fan motors, and run the signal to a solid state relay I just happen to have, which in turn will power the remote blower unit. The only reason I am considering this is to support yet another grand scheme. If there was just a little bit more air flow coming out of the closed lid when in heater mode, it could be ducted to vents at the bottom of the front windows.
What I think I'll do is make a small SS chamber under the counter directly in front of the stove with a flip-up cover on it. When the cover is closed on this new chamber and flush with the countertop, the heated air will pass over it so the heater works just like it does now. When the chamber lid is opened, it will serve to scoop up the air exhausting from the Wallas lid and direct it into the duct hose (probably 1 1/2" diameter) and come out the other end. The new deflector, of course, will be far enough away from the Wallas lid opening so there is no flow restriction.
There are lots of different styles and sizes of squirrel-cage and tangential blower units available for sale that are compact, quiet, run on 12v, and move a lot of air. I can even put a rheostat in the circuit to vary the speed and airflow, as long as the minimum is equal to the stock blower output so things don’t get too hot. With the blower itself placed at the lower back of the galley cabinet, it wouldn’t even be heard when running.
Even though I don’t like intricate stuff, I could do this project. I can con one of the guys in the tin shop at work into making the collection chamber with the flip up scoop out of scrap stainless sheet metal. The added duct unit would be small and somewhat attractive, so it shouldn’t look dorky. The duct hose can be completely hidden, and with the air movement through it, it won’t get very hot all. The air coming out the vent at the base of the windows will be warm enough to eventually defrost the glass, and then keep it clear for as long as the lid at the other end of the hose is open. It will also distribute the heat throughout more of the cabin. Yeah, I think it will work.
All I’m doing here is thinking out loud. What do you think? Dumb plan? More effort than it’s worth?
